Shillong:
Education Minister Lahkmen Rymbui, on March 1, said that the state government will “do something positive” to resolve the issue of pending salaries of the Sharva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) teachers, but only after the budget session.
Rymbui’s statement came a day before the Meghalaya SSA School Association (MSSASA) are to stage a protest march to the Secretariat demanding release of five-month salary by the government on March 2.
Urging the teachers not to stage the protest, the education minister said, “I hope that something could be done before March 31 with regards to the pending salaries. The government will try to do something after the budget session, which is slated from March 4 to 17.”
Earlier, irked at the government’s apathy towards the release of their pending salaries, the Meghalaya SSA School Teachers’ Association (MSSASA), on February 22, threatened to storm the secretariat if the state government failed to release their pending salary by February 28.
Stating that SSA issue is a very “difficult subject”, Rymbui said that the government is trying its best to ensure the necessary funds are released by the central government for the smooth implementation of the programme in the state.
“We are very happy that we are one of few states which has got first full instalment from the Centre,” Rymbui, while informing that last week he was in Delhi to “pursue” for the early release of the second instalment.
Rymbui also informed that, in 2019, the government had sanctioned Rs 78 crore plus from the Corpus Fund to clear the pending salary of the SSA teachers.